Greetings all OK Dinghy sailors from sunny Australia. I can’t believe that six months has passed since we were in Barbados at the World Championships. It was certainly a memorable event, great location and very challenging sailing. It was also a great privilege to be elected as President at the AGM in Barbados after many years of active OK Dinghy sailing and involvement with the class association in Australia.

I thought it worth sharing a little bit about myself as not everyone will either know or have met me. I live in Melbourne, specifically Sandringham, Victoria, Australia. I am a member of the Black Rock Yacht Club, where I am also the Secretary. I started sailing OKs in 1980 at the age of 16 years and have sailed them continuously ever since, always owning at least one OK. I sailed my first Australian OK Nationals in 1981 at Bateman’s Bay, south of Sydney. I didn’t qualify for the 1982 Worlds at Black Rock; sailed my first Interdominions at Takapuna in 1983 and my first Worlds in Sonderborg, Denmark in 1984. Since that time, I have sailed 30 Australian Championships and 15 World Championships.

The summer season in Australia is well underway and I will be travelling to Southport on the Gold Coast in Queensland for the Australian Championships. So far we have 40 entries. OK sailing in Queensland has seen amazing growth over the past 18 months after starting from nothing to over 20 boats actively sailing from Southport Yacht Club and new boats being built from the Australian Delfs mould.

In February I will travel to Auckland for the Interdominions and New Zealand Nationals at Waketere. This is the venue for the 2019 Worlds and the event in 2018 is being used as a bit of a test event and will be sailed at the same time of year as the Worlds in February 2019.

Finally I wanted to mention that OKDIA is building into a strong and professional association supporting a growing and dynamic class in the OK Dinghy. The class is currently in great shape and I have to acknowledge the leadership and vision of the past President Bo Teglers and his officers and committee on the great work they have done. I hope I can meet the expectations of all OK Dinghy sailors and play my part in continuing to grow and strengthen OK Dinghy sailing worldwide.

Merry Christmas and a happy new year and I look forward to catching up with OK Dinghy friends in Australia, New Zealand and at the Worlds in Warnemunde, Germany in 2018.

Best wishes, Mark

Mark JacksonOKDIA President

Henrik Kofoed Larsen looking cool

From the Secretary

Another busy, and encouraging, year is drawing to a close. Your Committee hope it was fun and rewarding for everyone who ventured to an international event to enjoy the OK camaraderie and competition.

We have a lot going on next year with the Worlds in one of the class's favourite venues in Warnemunde and the Europeans in Bandol to support the amazing growth in the French class. Both will be great events to remember.

We have the coming seasons nearly fully booked as well and I am delighted to report that the 2019 European Championship will be at Kiel as part of Kieler Woche. It has been a long time since we had a major championship there so I am sure it will be well supported. As no nominiations were received for the event, which is traditionally a week-long event in the year that the Worlds in the Southern Hemispshere, the OKDIA Committee sought out the venue and negotiated with the Kiel organisers for the four day event.

If you are planning to attend any of the events listed here it will help the organisers, and encourage other sailors, if you could sign up on the Interested Competitors' pages please. It really does make a difference to know how many boats we can expect.

Preparations for the 2018 World Championship in Warnemunde, Germany are well underway. The programme and preliminary details have been published on the event website at 2018.okworlds.org.

Pre-entry is now at 77, and we expect this to increase once we are into the formal entry process. Please keep an eye on the website for further updates.

After some late scoring corrections, Michael Horvath won the Go for Gold Regatta at Black Rock Sailing Club from Brent Williams and Folkert Janssen. Results here.

What's wrong with this photo?

Training Camp in Bandol in March 2018

If anyone would like to take part in an organised training camp in Bandol, the venue for the 2018 European Championship (and the 2018 Mediterranean Championship), top Dutch coach Han Beverwijk is offering a 5-day camp early in February/March.

The dates are flexible to suit those who wish to attend.

At the end of February Han is running a camp for the Dutch Optimist Team at Bandol. Having all his equipment already over there he is able to offer the OK class a training camp for a €80 per person a day. Being organised off-season, the costs for renting apartments etc will be low. The 5-day camp will cost €400.

Han is a seasoned coach involved in many Dutch Olympic campaigns. He is fully committed to singlehanded sailing and he has done a lot of sailing in the OK Dinghy and the Finn.

The camp is open to anyone who wants to learn and willing to put in the effort. Han has a lot of training material, which can be discussed on shore, when the weather is nasty or people need a break from training.

Still time to order a 2018 OK Dinghy Calendar £13.99 plus tax and shipping Order here

Dan Slater won the New Zealand East Coast Championship at Napier SC from Steve McDowell and Eric Rone. Results here.

Jacques Pirenne putting his best foot forward in Faaborg

47 sailors have so far signed up for the 2018 OK Dinghy European Championship in Bandol, France in September.

This is a great opportunity to get in some late season competition in a warm climate at a geat and friendly OK club. For those thinking of going to New Zealand for the 2019 World Championship it is ideal for a final training regatta prior to shippng boats in November.

There has been a lot of information added to the website for the 2019 OK Dinghy World Championship at Wakatare BC, New Zealand. The website can be found at 2019.okworlds.org

Pre-entry is currently at 58 and we are expecting a larger than normal entry for this event. The club and the local fleet have huge plans to make sure this is an event to remember and planning is already at an advanced stage.

The Notice of Race is expected to be published early in 2018 to allow the longest possible planning time. However the provisonal schedule and other details have already been published on the website.

In October, Dan Slater also won the Rum Bucket at Wakatere Boating Club, in Auckland, from Ben Morrisson and Mark Perrow. Results here.